Dans Mon Catalogue

English language

Published Dec. 31, 1964

(1 review)

The plot revolves around the political turmoil after the John F. Kennedy assassination in 1963. In the novel, a fictitious charismatic character, John Thatch, an engineer, is seeking the nomination for the Republican Party during the 1964 presidential elections. He is described as being contaminated with the "political virus". A handful of political professionals are promoting his nomination, in confrontation with the Party establishment. There exist apparent parallels between Thatch and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., a write-in hero at the New Hampshire primary.

1 edition

Kian Ryan reviewed The 480 by Eugene Burdick

Weirdly dated, weirdly prophetic

3 stars

Written in 1964, this novel follow political candidate/non-candidate John Thatch rise from celebrity outsider to Rublican party candidate, being guided through the outside of the established political system. He's presented as a people's hero, being manouvered by a group of political scientists with the help of technology to exploit the local electorate.

It's difficult to read in it's own context, because from the viewpoint of 2024, it's a bit "so what?". Everything here is absolutely now par for the course, but would have probably appeared ... shocking? at the time. The idea that every social group can be categorised, sliced, analysed and predicted is exactly what we do with big data, and have been doing for a long time. But in 1964 this really was new.

There's a lot of anti-communism in the book, and a lot of racism. There are points where the book skirts Ayn Rand-esque language and …

Written in 1964, this novel follow political candidate/non-candidate John Thatch rise from celebrity outsider to Rublican party candidate, being guided through the outside of the established political system. He's presented as a people's hero, being manouvered by a group of political scientists with the help of technology to exploit the local electorate.

It's difficult to read in it's own context, because from the viewpoint of 2024, it's a bit "so what?". Everything here is absolutely now par for the course, but would have probably appeared ... shocking? at the time. The idea that every social group can be categorised, sliced, analysed and predicted is exactly what we do with big data, and have been doing for a long time. But in 1964 this really was new.

There's a lot of anti-communism in the book, and a lot of racism. There are points where the book skirts Ayn Rand-esque language and again, it's one to read carefully, with a very clear view on when it was written. It's an interesting read, very dated, but an interesting milestone in political history.